


All He Has Is Faith

by happywriter16



Category: Prison Break
Genre: Gen, Pre-Series, way better than the original version i wrote a long time ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 03:43:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8234900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happywriter16/pseuds/happywriter16
Summary: It's Christmas. Michael is sad. Linc is mad.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Previously posted at http://happywriter06.livejournal.com/5903.html#cutid1. This version is better.

He wishes he were a kid again before Mom died because the sight of snow on the ground would elicit shrieks of joy. The sight of snow on the ground on Christmas day would be the best Christmas present. It’d have him rushing through opening his presents so he and Linc could have snowball fights, make snow angels and go sledding down Wishmaker Hill. 

He rests his forehead against his right forearm where it rests against the steering wheel. Now snow elicits groans because the drive is going to be that much longer. More time to worry. 

The howling icy wind that stung his face moments ago is now swirling around his car, whipping up the snowflakes trying to land. His windshield wipers work double time as he travels along deserted streets then highways. Only crazy people are out here. He does his best to concentrate on the Christmas music on the radio trying to think about something else beside Linc not wanting to see him. He sings along, tapping his fingers, trying to thing good thoughts. 

At the sight of Fox River’s towers coming into view, his voice trails off and his fingers still. 

He pulls up to the guard booth, presses down the button to lower his window. “Who are you here to see?” the guard asks never looking up from his clipboard. 

“Lincoln Burrows.” The guard raises his eyes to meet Michael’s. 

“Your name?”

“Michael Scofield.” 

He looks back down. “Go in. Park on the left.”

He pulls into a space close to the building so he can spend as little time as possible in the frigid air. He shuts off the engine and has his hand on the door when he stops. It has been three weeks since Lincoln was sentenced. He hasn't seen Linc since he walked out the courtroom a condemned man. He can admit to himself that he was too much of a coward to face his brother until now.

He is not going to be a coward today. I’m going to get out of this car and walk through that gate, those doors because Christmas is not Christmas without Linc. Linc has never been away at Christmas. They have always spent it together – just the two of them, them with LJ and Lisa, them with Veronica. Always together. Always. Somehow in the crazy world that they came to inhabit after their mom died, they always found themselves together at Christmas. Birthdays, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving could come and go and they may not see each other but a few minutes, if at all. Never Christmas though. 

Twenty minutes later Michael is stepping out of his car to enter through the gate and heavy doors. The staff has decorated the lobby in hopes of bringing some holiday cheer to this place. They failed. The decorations are kind of creepy, like seeing a smile on a corpse. It just seems wrong somehow. It was just wasted effort. Such sadness permeates this place that no amount of plastic trees and dollar stores lights will diminish it.  
He slides into the first plastic chair after checking in and waits. He taps his foot. He folds and unfolds his hands. He counts the squares in the metal grate separating him from the other side. He hears the shuffling of shackled feet and lowers his eyes to meet Linc’s. 

His eyes are dark with anger. His jaw is clenched. His lips are pursued. He stands before Michael rigid and unmoving so the guards have to push him down in his seat. “Sit Burrows,” they say. 

Michael opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by Linc’s low roar. “What are you doing here?”

Michael leans forward, placing his forearms on the table. “To see you.”

“You shouldn’t have come.”

“It’s Christmas.”

“Maybe on the outside.” 

“What are you looking at?” Linc asks as he scowls at Michael.

“You.” 

“Cut it out. It’s creepy.”

“No, it’s not.” Jerk. 

“Yes, it is.”

“I didn’t come to debate the creepiness of my stare.”

“Then why did you come?” Linc says bringing his hand up to scratch his head. The clanging of the chains against the metal table and reverberates loudly in the room. Michael doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to seeing Linc like this. 

“It’s Christmas.”

“I thought we went over this,” Linc says, annoyed, seeming more so than when he say down just moments ago. 

“And we always spend Christmas together.” Michael slumps his chair, arms folded against his chest. “Always.” He realizes he sounds like a child but he doesn’t care. This is not going well at all. He knew Linc would be angry but he also knew, at least hoped, Linc would be somewhat happy to see him. 

Linc lets out an exasperated sigh and looks off to the side. “Michael you should be home making plans to see Vee, to see LJ, to see a girl. You should be anywhere but here.” 

“But I want to be here.”

“But I don’t want you here.” Linc motions for the guards. Both of their chairs scrape against the yellowing linoleum as they stand up.

“Linc?” He would be embarrassed at the way his voice cracks except being a little brother seems to always mean being embarrassed even as an adult around your big brother. 

“Go home Michael,” Linc orders without even looking at Michael. He doesn’t even look back once. This is what they do. They piss each other off; don’t talk to each other for days – maybe weeks – and then one day it is like nothing ever happened. 

This is what he thinks about as he asks the guard in the lobby to put him on the visitation list for New Year’s Day. 

Maybe he’s naïve to think this time will be like all the other times when this time Linc being behind bars is different. Things are different. Next Christmas he may have no brother to visit.

Maybe he just has to a little more faith than usual.


End file.
